Hon Hai to transform business groups

Hon Hai Group Chairman Terry Gou (CNA file photo)

Taipei, June 24 (CNA) Hon Hai Group Chairman Terry Gou said the company will embark on a transformation of its business group, which will include business restructuring and subsidiaries going public.

But Gou also said six major core businesses-precision machinery, optics, material technology, cloud computing, network and research and development of automation - will be retained to ensure profits. Gou made the remarks to the United Evening News, which published a report on the interview on Monday.

Speaking on the transformation of his business group, Gou said that the first to be split off from the business group will be the connector business, which will go public after being independent for there years.

Then it will be the "eyeball" subgroup - any product that requires eyesight such as smart phones, all-in-one (AIO) computer and televisions, will be split off to at least between five and 10 companies.

In this way, companies under the group going public will grow several times.

On the world economy, Gou said there are no reasons to be optimistic this year.

He noted that the economic recovery in the United States is not solid, and China's economy is still weak. In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has not yet been able to keep the economic momentum.

Looking ahead, Gou said the second half of the year is the strong season of Hon Hai and he predicted a strong growth.

Faced with the changing environment, Gou also said that the company will start a cooperation program between the industry and schools.

He estimated that the group will pitch in more than NT$100 million (US$3.3 million) to nurture talent.

Hon Hai said that it will continue to send personnel in the research and development department to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to take part in its research program.

It chooses between six and seven ranking Taiwanese or Chinese officials every six months to go there, adding that 62 ranking officials have participated in such a program.

Meanwhile, Gou met with Douglas Hsu, chairman of the Far Eastern Group later Monday, sources said.

They said discussions in the meeting could include 4G and telecommunications industry operations.

But Hon Hai would not comment on such reports.

Sources said that Gou hopes to concentrate on tapping new business this year, not including 3D printing, but focus on cloud computing, software, fiberoptics and retail channels.